Embarrassing the Police Commissioner

Sep 04, 2011 Features / Columnists, My Column

---

By Adam Harris

Deception is one of the oldest games in the world. There are those who are wont to trace the roots of deception to the time when Eve deceived a more than gullible Adam to eat the Forbidden fruit. Since then there have been numerous acts of deception.
One of the more famous involved the Trojan horse. In that case the warring Trojans managed to breach the defence of a city named Troy. It was a most formidable defence but the Greeks constructed a wooden horse which the very people of Troy willingly allowed to enter their gates.
The story goes that the Greek soldiers, in the dead of night, opened the gates and as easy as taking candy from babies, their army entered the city and slaughtered the Troy army. Ever since, there has been the saying ‘Beware the Greeks bearing gifts.’
In more recent times, the British pulled off a deception that sent the Germans racing away from the location where the allied forces were to land. That was said to have been the turning point of the Second World War.
Guyana has not been without its share of deceptions. Politicians deceived the people over and over again with promises of a brighter tomorrow only to let them down until the next elections came around. In some cases they used small sums of money to pacify the people.
Sometimes they built edifices which became nothing but white elephants, but during the construction phase the people, although they knew that they did not need what was being constructed, stood silently by. Some people would later say that by their silence and apparent acceptance, the people managed to deceive the government.
A WikiLeaks cable recently highlighted one of the greatest deceptions that the Guyana Government would ever pull. There was the post of Police Commissioner that had gone vacant following the retirement of Winston Felix. Henry Greene was the next logical candidate but President Bharrat Jagdeo kept refusing to make the appointment. He wanted to be sure that the commissioner was someone over whom he would have control.
According to WikiLeaks, the Americans, the British and the Canadians met President Jagdeo over Greene’s appointment. They were convinced that Greene was corrupt and was therefore not the right person for the post.
They set about trying to convince Jagdeo not to appoint this man. It is here that Jagdeo pulled off his scam. He listened to the envoys and reportedly said that should the Americans revoke Greene’s visa then he might be influenced not to make the appointment.
The Americans must have felt that they had pulled off a coup of sorts. They revoked Greene’s visa but that was just the catalyst that Jagdeo needed to appoint Greene. There are many views about this action.
Some still feel that when Jagdeo made the appointment, Greene fell for it hook, line and sinker. He became of the view that Jagdeo was in his corner and was showing the Americans that Greene was his man. This now explains the willingness of the police force to do every bidding of the government. Greene was repaying what he believed to be Jagdeo’s trust in him.
But it is President Jagdeo’s ability to deceive that must be noted. The cable quoted the American envoy as saying, “At times, Jagdeo comes across as a practical, level-headed leader — meaning well but hampered by a cabinet full of old party cronies. At other times, however, Jagdeo seems enamored by the image of Guyana as victim — a poor, little country pushed around by the rich powers. In such instances, he lashes out at diplomatic pressure and makes decisions like this one that are, frankly, bad for Guyana.”
I can understand Jagdeo bucking the Americans. He is insistent that he is his own man and that Guyana is not a satellite of any major power. That behaviour is reminiscent of another man in another time when President Jagdeo was a very young boy.
But Jagdeo is not the only one in this. Commissioner Greene was once a schoolmate of mine. He is a member of the old school tie and that is why I cannot say that I am amused at the embarrassment to which he is now subjected.
The Americans have accused him of having links to narco-traffickers. Knowing how the Americans react to drug dealings, this is most damning. It may not be a criminal offence but it surely sullies one’s name and keeps one outside the loop of international law enforcers.
They said that he cried when his visa was revoked; they said that he thought that his association with women had something to do with it.
From my little corner, I am tempted to ask my friend to go quietly. I am not happy with the numerous allegations and knowing how the lower ranks of the Guyana Police Force behave I can imagine the sniggers. I can see those senior officers hostile to the Commissioner doing things that would undermine him.
But then again, who am I to suggest anything to the Commissioner. If President Jagdeo could set up his visa revocation and still keep him, he must have something good about him.

---

---